Pain of the Past
by D3m0nDarks
Summary: Natsu learns that running away from your problems isn't always the best answer. Especially if the one you love gets engaged to your rival. NaLu one-shot, slight GrayLu, happy ending


Natsu glowered at the sight in front of him. Gray and Lucy sat side-by-side, talking and laughing. The raven's arm was around the blonde's waist, and the Celestial Wizard leaned on the Ice Mage's shoulder. They had been dating for a year now, and had no problem showing their affection in front of everyone.

The Dragon Slayer couldn't help the small growl that rose from his throat. He was jealous, he knew that. He was extremely jealous. He loved Lucy, but when he had gone to confess to her, she turned towards him, a huge smile on her beautiful face, and announced that her and Gray were dating. His resolve broke. She seemed so cheerful, there was no way he could tell her how he felt. He didn't want to ruin her mood. And so he congratulated her, even if he didn't approve. And as long as the Ice Mage made her happy, he would remain silent.

"What's the matter, Natsu? Something got you down?" Natsu turned towards the barmaid, greeting her cheerful smile with a grunt. Resting his head on the counter, he turned so he could still gaze at the blonde-haired beauty. He could hear her laugh from where he sat across the guild, relishing at how her voice sounded of angels. If only he was the one to make her smile like that. He wanted to be the only one to hear her giggle. Dragons were extremely possessive, and the moment Natsu decided he wanted her for himself was the day he was doomed to spend his time wallowing in self pity at what would never be.

Sighing, Mira leaned against the counter, proper her chin up on her hands. "What's the matter?" She asked in a motherly voice before following his gaze. "Are you jealous of Gray?" She skillfully observed. Figuring out what was bothering someone had always been one of her strong points.

Natsu just gave a simple nod in response. The barmaid was rather tacked aback. She honestly hadn't expected the dense Fire Mage to be so open about it, never mind aware of the fact himself. She blinked in shock for a few moments before gently patting him on the head. "It's been a year, Natsu, why are you getting upset about it now?"

"I figured I'd wait for it to blow over. I know Gray doesn't usually stay with girls for more than a few months. But it's taking a long time..." He explained.

Mira nodded thoughtfully. "You're right, but perhaps he's actually serious about her. What would you do then?"

"Nothing."

The takeover mage gaped at the boy in surprise. Was this really the same Natsu she knew? She had expected him to get up and go declare his thoughts if something was bothering him, not sit back and let it continue. "You won't do anything?"

Natsu picked his head up, turning his saddened gaze towards the barista. "How could I? He makes her happy, how could I take that away from her?" And with that, he laid his head down again, closing his eyes and wishing for all his troubles to be gone.

Mira felt a twinge of guilt. She had been so excited when Gray and Lucy first got together. Of course she had felt bad for Juvia, but the Water Mage was still in high hopes that he would break up with Lucy for her. She had no idea how much it must have hurt Natsu. Wendy had mentioned dragons are born with a single mate, and once they find them, they could never love another. If that was true for Dragon Slayers as well, it meant that if Natsu didn't end up with Lucy, he would die alone.

"You have to tell her how you feel." The takeover mage declared, making Natsu lift his head to look at her in confusion. She was well aware the Dragon Slayer probably didn't know that Lucy was his one and only mate. She was determined for her friend to be happy, and if the only way was for him to get together with his mate, then she needed to convince him to tell her how he truly felt. "She may be happy with Gray, but you need to tell her how you feel, she deserves to know."

Natsu was silent for a moment, contemplating the S-class mage's words. "I guess you're right..." Before he could say anything else on the subject, he was interrupted by the topic of their conversation.

"Natsu!" Lucy cheered, running up to the pinkette. "Gray and I are getting married!"

The whole world seemed to freeze around the Dragon Slayer.

It was too late.

The entire guild erupted into cheers. The cheerful aura around the pinkette did nothing to help the stab of pain he felt in his heart. He knew he should congratulate her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It hurt too much.

Gently, he pushed himself off the bar stool. "I'm sorry, Luce... I... I have to go." Before she could respond, the Dragon Slayer ran out the doors of the guild, leaving everyone speechless.

That was two years ago.

* * *

"Lushi! I found a job for us!"

The blonde smiled at the Exceed, looking over the sheet of paper he was waving in front of her. "Awesome! It looks pretty easy, this one will do just fine."

After Natsu had disappeared, everyone assumed he just needed some time to himself. But after a few weeks and Happy reporting he hadn't been home since, they tried looking for the Dragon Slayer, but he was nowhere to be found. They tried tracking him down using Gajeel and Wendy, but his trail had been washed away by the rain. Warren attempted to contact him with his telepathy, but announced he was out of range and couldn't reach him. Happy had flown as far as he could, but his efforts produced no results.

Everyone was worried about him, but there was nothing they could do. Lucy had invited the feline to live with her, and the two always went on missions together when not with the remaining members of Team Natsu, which had kept the name.

Lucy handed the job request to Mira. "Happy and I will be taking this."

The barmaid nodded, "alright, be careful you two!"

The blonde said a word of thanks and left, Happy following closely behind.

The Celestial Wizard decided to review the information given on the job request. It was in a small town a few hours away by train. The villagers were claiming there were strange happenings going on in the forest nearby, and want someone to investigate. The pay wasn't a large amount, so she was sure whatever was going on couldn't be too bad. The request, however, didn't explain what it meant by "strange happenings". It would probably be described once she reached the client's house.

The train ride was uneventful. Happy slept most of the way, curled up on the blonde's lap, occasionally murmuring about fish or Charle and drooling. Lucy would just giggle at the feline and stroke his fur. There was one point when she heard him call Natsu's name. She knew his disappearance had really hurt the Exceed, probably more than anyone else in the guild. He had already dealt with his "mother's" death, and then his father and best friend had up and vanished without a word. And yet, the tiny feline had done his best to remain cheerful. The mage couldn't help but admire that about him.

As the train pulled to a stop, the Exceed stirred. "Huh? Are we here?" He murmured sleepily, letting out a large yawn.

"Yep, let's go." The cat nodded and followed Lucy to the address given on the request sheet. They rang the doorbell and waited.

Within a few moments, the door opened, revealing an elderly man. They were invited in, where the man explained the situation.

The townspeople had become concerned. Recently, the trees in the forest were getting knocked over, loud roaring could be heard, and the forest would catch on fire. They had assumed it was a monster that was going on rampages, and they were worried it would make its way to the village.

"Don't worry, we'll get rid of it for you!" Lucy smiled reassuringly, Happy nodding in consent. The old man bowed in thanks. Without waiting another moment, the duo left.

As the two of them walked through the forest, they found trees knocked over here and there. Upon investigation, they found they all seemed to be knocked over with a single blow. There were trees that had broken in half through the attack, and some where the entire tree fell. Either way, there was a part where the tree had been hit that had a large black spot that looked like it was singed. Some of the trees that were still standing were burnt black, having been torched to their roots.

"Wow..." Lucy whispered in disbelief. "Whatever did this really knows how to do damage."

"Aye."

Lucy was silent in thought. 'Whatever it is, it probably uses fire magic. If only-' before she could finish the thought, Lucy shook her head. 'No, stop thinking about him! But it would be helpful to have his nose...' With a sudden realization, she looked over to the cat that padded softly beside her.

"Happy, do you think you can sniff the creature out?"

Happy nodded. "Aye sir!" The cat lifted his head up, nose twitching. After a few moments of sniffing the air, his eyes widened. "Ah! This smell-!"

The feline was cut off by a loud roar echoing through the forest. "Come on, Happy! Let's go!" The cat nodded, growing his wings out and taking after the blonde.

'That roar...' Lucy thought to herself, 'it sounded... Sad.'

They finally came to a clearing, the surrounding trees pitch black. In the center of the clearing was a tuft of pink.

Lucy stared, wide-eyed. "Is... Is that..."

"Natsu!" The cat cried, causing the boy to look up.

Natsu gawked at the duo. "Happy..." He murmured before his eyes flickered to the blonde, "L-Lucy..."

Lucy stared in disbelief and watched, speechlessly, as tears welled up in the pinkette's eyes, spilling over and leaving shimmery trails down his cheeks.

"N-Natsu, wha-"

"Stay away from me!" The Dragon Slayer roared, startling the Celestial Mage. He stumbled to his feet, turning and attempting to run.

"No you don't!" The blonde hissed, snatching her Fleuve d'étoiles and wrapping it around the boy's ankle, effectively tripping him.

"Let me go!" He roared, fire spewing from his mouth.

"Idiot!" The girl hissed, pulling her whip backwards and yanking the mage towards her, dragging him across the ground.

"Natsu!" Happy cried, flying into the boy and tackling him into a hug. "Why did you leave us?!"

Natsu turned into a sitting position and held the cat close to him. "I'm sorry, buddy, but... I didn't think I'd be gone for long..."

"Why did you leave?" Lucy demanded, walking up to him, gazing at him in concern.

Natsu looked away. "Because... It hurt..."

"What hurt?" The blonde asked, kneeling to be at the same eye level.

"Seeing you... With him..." The Dragon Slayer muttered, heat rising to his cheeks.

"You're... Jealous of Gray?" Lucy could hardly believe what she was hearing.

Natsu have a small nod before turning his saddened gaze to look her in the eyes. "I love you, Lucy. I tried to tell you twice. The first time, you said that Gray had asked you out, and then when I tried to tell you again, you said you were getting married... You were so happy, there was no way I could take that away from you." More tears streamed down his face.

Instinctively, Lucy dropped her Fleuve d'étoiles and pulled the boy into a hug, leaving room for Happy to breath. "Idiot... I love you too."

Natsu placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing her away. "How can you say that?!" He hissed.

"Because it's true, moron!"

"What about your husband?" The pinkette hissed, spitting out the last word as if it burned his tongue.

"Gray and I broke up." The blonde explained, showing no signs of remorse.

Natsu gritted his teeth. "Did that pervert hurt you? I swear, if he touched a hair on your head-"

Lucy laughed, cutting him off. "No, it's nothing like that." Her gaze softened at his ruffled state. "You're all dirty, but somehow that doesn't surprise me."

"Why did you break up?"

The blonde smiled at her partner. "Because I was still in love with you."

Natsu stared up at the girl in shock. "Then why did you go out with him ? And agree to marry him?"

Lucy let out a sigh. "Because I didn't think you reciprocated my feelings. I decided to date Gray when he asked me out, thinking it would help me get over you. I do love him, but as a brother. And when he proposed, I couldn't bear to hurt his feelings..." She trailed off, pausing for a moment before continuing with a sad smile. "He saw right through me. He could tell I still cared for you, and so we broke up, but we're still friends. He's dating Juvia now."

The pinkette let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear." Setting his blue-furred companion on the ground, he pulled Lucy into a hug. "I missed you, Luce..."

"Baka..." The blonde finally let her tears show, ignoring the feeling of them streaming down her face as she wrapped her arms around him. "I missed you too. Why were you gone so long?"

Natsu pulled away, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Again, he couldn't suppress the blush that made its way onto his cheeks. "Because it hurt too much to see you with someone else. I decided to go away until the pain stopped, but it only got worse..."

"Natsu..."

"Luce, promise me you won't go out with anyone but me?" He looked up at her, eyes wide, almost fearful, like a puppy that was terrified of being abandoned.

The blonde smiled at the mage, wanting to reassure him. "I promise. Just don't run off again, okay? Everyone was really worried."

Natsu nodded. "Deal." Without another moment's hesitation, the pinkette pulled her into a kiss. When they pulled away, Natsu spoke up. "Speaking of which, how is everyone?"

"Well..." The Celestial Mage began, "Master's still in good health, Juvia was heartbroken at first, but now she couldn't be happier. Wendy's gotten stronger and learned a few more spells, Jellal and Meredy are no longer criminals and joined the guild, and Jellal's been trying to gather up the courage to ask Erza out, even though everyone knows she'll say yes. Elfman finally confessed to Ever, but all they do is argue, and Gajeel and Levy have a kid."

Natsu burst out laughing at the last one. "How long were they dating?"

Lucy giggled. "A month."

"He sure works fast." The Dragon Slayer commented with a grin.

"I didn't really understand since Levy was stammering so much when she tried to explain, but she said mentioned something about mating season."

"You'll understand soon enough..." The pinkette muttered more to himself, thankful the blonde didn't catch his comment.

"Aye!" Happy piped up, "and Charle finally accepted a fish from me!" He sang, hearts in his eyes.

"That's awesome! Congrats!" Natsu grinned, patting the Exceed's head.

"Ne, ne, Lushi, does this mean you'll be my mommy?"

Lucy giggled at the tiny cat's question. "I guess so."

"Natsu, are you gonna live with Lushi and me?"

"Of course!"

"Hey, don't I get a say in this?!"

Natsu laughed before pulling the blonde into a hug once more. "I love you Luce."

Lucy relaxed in the Dragon Slayer's arms and rested her head against his chest. "I love you too."


End file.
